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French Word Order - Ordre des mots

Dual-Verb Constructions

The order of words in a French sentence can be very confusing, due to
dual-verb constructions, object and adverbial pronouns, and negative structures.

Dual verb constructions consist of a conjugated
semi-auxiliary verb, such as pouvoir, devoir (these two are called modal verbs in English),
vouloir, aller, espérer, and promettre, followed by a second
verb in the infinitive. The two verbs may or may not be joined by a preposition.

*Sometimes the object pronoun must precede the
first verb. In order to determine this, think about which verb is being modified,
because in French, the object pronoun has to go in front
of the verb it modifies. The wrong
place may give you a grammatically incorrect sentence or may even change the
meaning of the sentence.